


alone together

by grahamcracker76



Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, Introspection, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23867341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grahamcracker76/pseuds/grahamcracker76
Summary: “The thing is,” Napoleon said, “I work better alone.”
Relationships: Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	alone together

**Author's Note:**

> I recently rewatched TMFU and then this happened! Here is the movie-fic I always wanted to write - I hope you enjoy!

“The thing is,” Napoleon said, “I work better alone.”

It was true - he’d gotten used to it, after all these years. When he worked alone, he didn’t have to stick out his neck for anyone. He took orders from just one person - himself. He had no obligations and no debts. By all rights, he should have been the happiest man in the world.

Funny how all it took was spending one half hour with a Russian spy to change that.

***

To be honest, Napoleon thought about it.

He watched Illya’s boat incinerate in a fiery explosion, and he thought about driving away and not looking back. “It was an accident,” he would have said. “There wasn’t anything I could have done.”

But he knew that would have been a lie. And no one was more surprised than himself, but he knew that he was beginning to enjoy Peril’s presence. Sure, the Russian agent was no less smug and infuriating and impossible than ever. Even so, Napoleon had to admit that spending the past half hour showing off for him and competing with him and sharing the danger of the mission with him had been… surprisingly fun. He never thought he’d apply the word to the Russian, but all it took was one half hour to change everything. All it took was one half hour, and Napoleon knew that he couldn’t let Illya die.

***

“You saved my life,” Illya said later, when they had dragged themselves up onto the shore, both of them wet and shivering. “Thank you.” He looked at Napoleon with dark eyes, and Napoleon shifted under his speculative gaze.

“Think nothing of it,” he replied. “You would have done the same for me.” He couldn’t say why, but suddenly Napoleon was absolutely sure of it. He’d been alone so long. He wasn’t used to this kind of partnership. He wasn’t used to feeling this kind of trust and certainty for someone else. He wasn’t used to trusting anyone, but somehow he found himself beginning to trust Illya. It was a startling realization. He looked at Illya and he trusted him, and it felt uncomfortable and dangerous and right.

 _I have a bad feeling about this,_ Napoleon thought resignedly, knowing deep down that he was already lost.

***

Then, of course, it all went straight to hell.

***

Napoleon knew what was coming when he came to strapped into the chair. It was not the first time he’d been tortured, after all - nor, he suspected, would it be the last.

It was the first time he hoped that someone might be coming for him. Illya was a good spy - Napoleon had no compunctions admitting it now. Surely Illya would figure out that it had all gone terribly wrong. Surely Illya would be able to find some way to do the impossible and get him out of here. But would he?

Napoleon remembered quiet words exchanged under a starlit Italian sky. _“You saved my life.”_ He remembered the way Illya had seemed to gaze into his very soul. He remembered the way something had seemed to solidify between them, that night when everything changed for good. He remembered saying _“you would have done the same for me.”_

Napoleon remembered it all, and for the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to hope.

***

“I never thought I’d say this, but I am glad to see you,” Napoleon said.

Illya smiled at him, a small, private smile, and Napoleon felt warm all over.

Illya helped him out of the chair, and Napoleon leaned on him gratefully. _I could get used to this,_ he thought. Maybe having a partner wouldn’t be so bad, if it was like this. 

***

On the one hand, it wasn’t so bad, having a partner. On the other hand, it was hard to build a trusting relationship when their orders seemed to make it impossible.

Napoleon looked at Illya, sitting across from him with his expression stormy and his jaw clenched, and he was sure they were receiving the same instructions. Obtain the disk at all costs. Kill your counterpart if necessary.

It always came down to this, didn’t it? No one trusted anyone in their business. They were spies - they couldn’t afford it. But Napoleon looked at Illya, who was angry and mutinous and avoiding his gaze, and he wanted to trust.

His orders were clear: kill the Russian if necessary. One way or another, Napoleon would make sure that it wasn’t.

***

Napoleon knew what was coming when he invited Illya to his room for a drink. A fight was inevitable, but Napoleon wouldn’t be going into this fight blind - he had a few tricks up his sleeve and he meant to use them well.

One: the disk. By a sheer stroke of luck, he’d snuck it into his pocket when no one was looking, and he’d kept it with him ever since. Maybe a smarter man would have handed it in and forgotten all about it, but Napoleon couldn’t do that. Not any more. The disk had become a symbol, and putting it out in the open meant one thing: trust. So Napoleon carefully placed the disk where he knew Illya would be sure to see it, and the chips would fall where they may.

But Napoleon had another card to play: Illya’s watch. He’d found it and held onto it, waiting for the right moment. Maybe returning the watch would tip the odds in his favor, because the truth was, he didn’t want to kill Illya if he could help it, and he didn’t think Illya wanted to kill him. He hoped. He believed. He trusted.

After what seemed like an eternity, Napoleon heard a knock at the door. He put his gun within easy reach, just out of sight. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Come in,” he said.

***

Illya was here to kill him, and Napoleon knew it.

He saw it in the way Illya’s fingers trembled, in the way his hand kept straying under his jacket. He saw it in the clenching of Illya’s jaw, and the fire in his eyes.

“You know what my mission is?” Illya asked, blunt as ever.

“Same as mine was,” Napoleon responded, sure that Illya would catch his deliberate emphasis on the past tense. “Kill me if necessary,” he continued, “to get that.” With a flourish, he revealed the disk.

“But I have a better idea,” he said, walking right up to Illya until they’re barely inches apart. Illya’s hand was creeping back under his jacket again, so Napoleon did the only thing he could: he gently drew it out and held it between his own.

Illya raised his eyebrows but made no move to pull his hand away. “Oh?” he asked.

Napoleon kissed him. 

***

Later, they lay on the bed together, both of them flushed and disheveled and breathless.

“Good idea, Cowboy,” Illya said, leaning over to capture Napoleon’s lips once more.

Napoleon kissed him back eagerly, sucking Illya’s tongue into his mouth and groaning when Illya nipped on his lower lip in response. Kissing Illya was even better than he’d imagined it would be: addictive and exciting and just a little bit dangerous.

“Yeah?” he said when they broke apart, gasping into each other’s mouths. “It’s been known to happen.”

Illya smiled, and it was such an unfamiliar sight that Napoleon’s heart thumped unsteadily in his chest. He couldn’t help thinking that he wanted to put that look on Illya’s face again and again. But at the same time, he knew they would never see each other again, and maybe that was for the best.

“By the way,” he said, “I almost forgot. I have something for you.” He reached over the side of the bed and handed Illya his father’s watch.

Illya blinked in surprise, his fingers running over the leather band and his thumb stroking over the watch face almost reverently before he fit it back around his wrist. “You found it,” he said, looking at Napoleon with his face full of open joy. “Thank you.”

Napoleon shifted uncomfortably. “When I found it, I couldn’t leave it behind,” he said. “I know how much it means to you…”

But before he could start rambling in earnest, Illya rolled his eyes and pulled him in for a kiss. Illya kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him, and and Napoleon never wanted this to end. He knew their time together was coming to a close, but he couldn’t help wanting to draw this out a little longer.

“Once more?” he asked, pulling Illya over him and running his palms down his back to hold him close. “For old time’s sake.”

Illya smiled and thrust down, and Napoleon gasped, his nails digging into Illya’s skin.

“Once more,” Illya agreed, leaning down to fasten their lips together.

***

It came as a bit of a shock to learn that they would be seeing each other again after all. In fact, it seemed they would all be seeing each other for the foreseeable future.

“Where are we going?” Illya asked.

“Istanbul, Kuryakin,” Waverly said. “You’ll need your curly-wurly shoes.”

Napoleon chanced a sidelong glance at Illya, who looked as calm and unruffled as ever. He supposed that was no surprise - Illya was _always_ calm and unruffled, except, it appeared, in bed. _The more you know,_ Napoleon thought, hiding his smile in his glass.

The sum of it was, he had gained not just one partner, but two. And in the past, Napoleon might have complained, but the truth was, he was sick of being alone, and now it looked as though he wouldn’t have to be. There were worse things in the world than the three of them, together. So as Waverly outlined their mission, Napoleon accepted their new orders with good grace. With these two at his side, he was ready for anything.

***

E N D

***

**Author's Note:**

> Worth noting: After watching the Star Wars movies again and writing some fics from Han’s POV, I’ve been thinking about all the similarities between Han and Napoleon, and I think that comes through in this fic. Props if you can spot the Star Wars references I snuck in! (:


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